Not Your Average Adventure
by Cattobus
Summary: Sure, you've read adventures. But I'm pretty sure you've never read one like this. I mean, in your average adventure, do you have a hero with an allergy, a narrator kidnapping people, and an author who... well, let's not go there... Will have shippings inside. Main character is an oc. Pretty much au. Rated T for swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: So. I'm Cattobus. This is my first ever story, so it'll probably be rubbish. Also, as an extra note, all the characters will be OOC, except for my OCs who will never settle on a constant personality. I'm British, so I speak British English (duh), so some stuff will be spelled weirdly/mean something else. I'm not going to reveal all the shippings that will ever appear, but if you have an issue with same sex pairings then you may not like the story.  
**

**The shippings I'm willing to reveal are:**

**Pokeshipping (Ash x Misty)**

**Leafgreen/Oldrivalshipping (Gary x Leaf)**

**Contestshipping (Drew x May)**

**Ikarishipping: (Paul x Dawn)**

**Wishfulshipping: (Cilan x Iris)**

**That said, this is an adventure story, not a romance, so the shippings will not take centre stage. The reason I called it 'pretty much au' is because it's technically in the anime universe, but as I said in the summary, I'm '...well, let's not go there' so I've made some changes. I think that's everything, so please review, I don't care if it's negative as long as it's helpful, and you're not just hating.****  
**

* * *

**[Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, or the song Anima Libera]**

* * *

Chapter One- Not Your Average Prologue

A young girl sits at a computer, typing out a story. She pauses as she has an idea.

_A good idea... _she thinks, and continues to weave her tale, chuckling occasionally. The girl laughs louder when she realises what the characters will think of this idea.

_A very good idea... _she inwardly snickers, now typing furiously, as if the keys are hot coals.

_Let the fun begin..._

* * *

Ash Ketchum was on a roll. He was racing through Kalos at a terrific speed. So it came as a surprise to him when, being challenged to a battle by a wild Abra, he was losing.

"Urrgh!" growled Ash. The battle had been going on for ages, and he was no closer to victory than he was at the beginning of the battle. Indeed, victory seemed _further away_ than before, for the Abra was stronger than he had first anticipated.

He was glad it was only him there, he had left the others at a Pokémon Centre, while he had wandered off to do some training, Bonnie might have ended up getting hurt trying to approach the Abra, who would probably have attacked her without second thought.

"Pikapi!" yelled Pikachu, jerking Ash's attention back to the battle at hand.

"Thanks, bud." Ash murmured, trying to focus. The Abra had noticed Ash's momentary distraction though, and used it to its advantage, charging a powerful Psychic.

"Pikachu!" screamed Ash, hoping that his partner would be okay, but knowing that the battle was over.

"Pi..." mumbled Pikachu, who was clearly unable to battle. Ash ran over to him and knelt down beside him.

As Ash worried over Pikachu, quiet applause filled the air. Ash's head whipped around, searching for the source of the clapping. A hooded figure was standing not far behind him.

"Well done." said the figure. "It's been a while since Solon had a worthy opponent."

"Who are you?" Ash demanded. "What do you want from me?" The figure ignored the questions and asked one of their own.

"Are you Ash Ketchum?"

"What's it to you?" Again the figure ignored him.

"Well, are you?" they asked. Ash sighed.

"Let's say I am. What now?" he muttered.

"Well Ash, I need you to come with me." the figure answered.

"And if I don't?" Ash asked.

"I see you aren't going to come willingly then."

"Not if I don't know what's going on!" The figure seemed to think about it for a while.

"I'm basically kidnapping you. Now you know what's going on, so let's go!" the figure cheered.

"Okay." Ash said, apparently satisfied with the answer. Then he paused. "Wait, what?"

The figure sighed.

"I really hoped it wouldn't come to this... Solon?" The Abra, who was apparently named Solon, passed the figure a frying pan.

"What's that f-" Ash didn't get to finish his question, as he fell over, seeing stars.

The figure sighed. _At least it's getting easier.  
_It picked up Ash and Pikachu, and nodded to Solon. The Abra nodded back as it teleported them away.

* * *

Ash woke up in a large room with white walls. "...Where?" he mumbled, blinking. As he looked around, he saw the room was quite big, and had a couple of sofas. And on one of the sofas was-

"Hey, Ashy-boy!~" Gary Oak, in all his hedgehog-headed glory.

"HEY!" Gary yelled, when he realised what the narration had said about his hair.

"Wait, what?" Ash muttered. "Narration?"

Gary rolled his eyes. "You seriously don't notice the running commentary on what's going on?"

Ash was quiet for a bit. Gary smirked, Ash was making himself look stupid.

"HEY! That was uncalled for!" exclaimed Ash. "And to answer your question, _Gare-bear_," he continued, "Of course I notice it. I just ignore it, because, to the best of my knowledge, no-one else hears it, and if I acknowledge it, people will think I'm crazy." Gary's jaw dropped. He stared at Ash, dumbstruck. He looked like a fish. "_SHUT UP!_"

"Wow," a voice from behind Ash chirped, "Ash got smart!"

Ash turned around. On a sofa similar to the one Gary was sitting on perched Dawn, Misty and Iris.

"Oh, hey guys!" Ash grinned at his former travelling companions. Misty was holding her mallet, an angry glint in her eye.

"Not smart enough..." she growled.

"Yeah, such a kid," Iris agreed.

"At least he's making progress," a new voice interjected, "June, on the other hand..."

"SHUT UP, GRASSHEAD!" yelled the brunette in question. "AND MY NAME'S MAY, NOT JUNE OR ANY OTHER MONTH!"

"All this fighting will leave a nasty after-taste" mumbled the other green-haired man in the room.

"Yeah," added a certain dark haired Casanova, kneeling in front of Iris, "I haven't been able to ask this fine lady's name in all the commotion!"

"Croa-GUNK!"

"Then again, maybe that's a good thing..."

"Hey, will you guys be okay if I leave you for a while? I've got two more people to pick up." The hooded figure, who had somehow not been noticed standing in the corner, spoke up. Everyone in the room froze. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Seriously, though, the silence was getting awkward... Brock chuckled at that one. Drew finally voiced the question on everyone's mind.

"Who the heck are you?!" And after the silence broke, suddenly every question anyone had was voiced.

"Where are we?!"

"What do you want from us?!"

"Where's Pikachu?!"

"Why is Ash smart all of a sudden?!"

"Where dem girls at?!"

"Does the guy I like like me?"

"Is there a toilet?"

"Can you take the hood off?"

The figure sighed. If it had known there would be so many questions, it would have left without announcing its departure.

"Drew, I'll answer that later. Same for Gary and Iris. Ash, you're sitting on him. Misty, your guess is as good as mine. Brock, far away from here. Dawn, heck yeah, if we're talking about the same person. Cilan, go into the hall, second door on the right. May, sure, if it helps..." As it answered May's question, it took off its hood to reveal a dark skinned girl with long black hair and dark blue eyes.

Gary whistled. "A chick, eh? Who'd have thought?" The fig- girl ignored him.

"And now, I really must be going... Solon?" As she called for her Abra (and Cilan excused himself), she pulled her hood back on. And then she vanished, teleporting away to who knows where.

* * *

_...a while later..._

"You liar, that was longer than a while..." Brock groaned.

The hooded girl had teleported back into the room to find Ash being violently electrocuted by Pikachu, May poking Drew in the back repeatedly, Misty holding her mallet with a mad glint in her eye, Cilan composing a haiku about his current situation, Gary flirting with Dawn, Iris humming 'Anima Libera' **[Anima Libera** **by** **Emi]**, and Brock sitting in the middle of it all, the still small voice of calm.

The unnamed girl had been observing all this for a while before Brock made his observation. When he did, she just laughed.

"Only one more person to pick up, then I'll explain," she promised.

"Thank Arceus..." sighed Brock. The girl laughed again, before laying a purple haired boy on the sofa, and disappearing.

* * *

...a_ while later..._

"Closer to a while, but still..."

The girl sighed. _Finally, _she thought, _Everyone's here..._ She dropped a brown haired girl on a chair. Looking around, she saw that the situation was much the same, except for the fact that Iris was now singing not humming, Pikachu was visibly calmer, Misty had put her mallet away, Ash had a large bump on his forehead, and Dawn was fawning over the boy with purple hair, who was now awake and grumbling about troublesome females. The girl walked into the middle of the room, and took a deep breath, pulling her hood off.

"_EVERYONE! SHUT THE HELL UP!" _Everyone in the room froze. _"Thank you. _Now, I'll tell you what's going on as soon as _she_-" At this point, the girl stopped, gesturing to the unconscious brunette, "-wakes up." Then the girl paused. "Um, that's all I needed to say. So until she wakes up, just do whatever, I gue-" She was cut off by the purple haired man, who, clearly tired of everything, had punched her in the side of the head. Seeing stars, the girl fell towards the ground. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was a female voice wondering whether to catch her before she hit the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: So yeah. I'm back, I guess. I'm really sorry for the wait. I've decided to put Author's Notes at the bottom now, so I'll keep this short. It's basically a warning: _This chapter contains expletives (swear words) (and randomness). The chapters from now on will continue to contain swear words (and randomness),_ _hence the rating. If you cannot stand swear words (or randomness), then_ _DO NOT READ THIS STORY, as they will not be leaving any time soon. _**

**Thank you.**

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**[Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon}**

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Chapter Two- Not Your Average Prologue II (_or _Setting Up and Explanations)

As soon as the girl (the one who had been punched in the end of last chapter) awoke, she wished she was still unconscious.

"Seriously?" asked an unimpressed Brock as he helped the girl get up from the floor.

(_So in the end, no-one caught me... _she thought, mildly bemused.)

"After all this time... Even _Ash _could do better than that!" Brock continued, oblivious to the fact the girl clearly had no idea what he was talking about- "Okay, okay! You didn't have to be mean about it..."

"Seriously though, that sucked." Drew interjected.

"It was bland and not well seasoned." Cilan added, nodding.

The girl was more confused than ever. "What exactly are we talking about?" she asked.

"The chapter title." Gary groaned, obviously tired of the conversation. The girl, however, apparently still confused, tilted her head questioningly.

"What of it?" she asked, in an almost playful tone. Paul, whose name has not formally been mentioned yet- _"So?"_- had clearly had enough.

"Your chapter title was shit." Paul said in a tone which clearly meant _If you ask any more questions, I will make sure you never ask a question again_.

"Oh." said the girl, smirking. "Is that all? I must say, not one of my better works, but I assumed that you would want an explanation earlier rather than later, so I didn't spend too much time on it. If I'd known it would spark such a long discussion, I would have just spent longer on it." The girl finished somewhat smugly, amused at the varying levels of annoyance on the others' faces.

* * *

"Right, now that's over," a new voice entered. Everyone turned to look at the brunette, who had not said or done anything particularly interesting before then, was now standing at Gary's shoulder, opposite the other unnamed girl. "_I_, for one, would like to know what's going on, so," at this point the girl paused, scanning the room, "If anyone has any other issues with anything else, can we sort them later?" Everyone just sort of nodded, not really wanting to interrupt the girl.

"Right!" the other unnamed girl nodded. "Most of you know each other, know of each other, or have met, but not talked, but just to make sure, everyone form a circle and state your name, profession, starter Pokémon and home-town." Gary snorted, _("What is this, kindergarten?")_ but quickly joined the circle when Misty pulled out her mallet.

"Right, I'll start," the brunette volunteered when the circle was assembled. "I'm Leaf Green. I'm currently a freelance Pokémon Researcher, with a little journalism on the side, although I have dabbled in gym battles and once participated in a contest. My starter was Bulbasaur. I come from Pallet Town in Kanto, but I haven't visited recently..."

"Wait, Pallet Town?" asked Dawn. "Aren't Ash and Gary from there too?"

"Yeah..." murmured Iris, who seemed to have wanted to say the same thing.

"But wouldn't they have mentioned her?" Misty muttered.

As they wondered why they had not heard of Leaf, they missed Gary and Ash sharing a secret conversation communicated entirely by stares and slight head movements, which was really quite a shame; it was fascinating (the conversation I mean, not anything else).

* * *

When it became clear that everyone had either completely forgotten or had no intention of reviving the old conversation, the still unnamed girl cleared her throat loudly.

"Right, you,"she said, pointing at the man sitting next to Leaf. "Name, profession, starter, home-town. Now."

"Brock Harrison, former Gym Leader and Breeder, currently a Pokémon Doctor, Onix, Pewter City, Kanto."

"Thank you, Brock. Next!"

"May Maple, Coordinator, Torchic, Petalburg City, Hoenn."

"Dawn Berlitz, Coordinator, Piplup, Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh."

"Drew Hayden, Coordinator, Budew, LaRousse City, Hoenn."

"Iris Stevens, um... Trainer, I guess... Drilbur, the Village of Dragons, Unova..."

"Cilan Griffith, Gym Leader and Pokémon Connoisseur, Pansage, Striaton City, Unova."

"Misty Waterflower, Gym Leader, Staryu, Cerulean City, Kanto."

"Paul Rebolledo, Trainer, Turtwig, Veilstone City, Sinnoh."

"You all know, or have known-" at this point, Ash paused and looked at Leaf, "- me, but I guess I have to introduce myself anyway... I'm Ash Ketchum, I'm a Trainer, my starter was Pikachu, and I'm from Pallet Town, Kanto."

There was an awkward pause as Gary, who was staring at Leaf- "_Was not!_"- had not being paying attention.

"...So I'm Gary Oak, I was a Trainer, but now I'm a Researcher, my starter was Squirtle, and I'm from Pallet Town, Kanto."

Leaf gasped. _'Gare-bear?'_ she mouthed.

The girl whose name was about to be revealed, if all went to plan, cleared her throat.

"Um, Leaf, can it wait for a sec?" the girl asked. "It's getting irritating calling myself 'the unnamed girl' and the like."

Leaf nodded, and the girl smiled gratefully. "Thanks... Anyways, I'm Aiko Rivers, and I'm a Narrator and self-proclaimed Crazy Cat Lady. My starter was Meowth, and I'm... well... Technically I'm from Aurora, Ransei. And that's it." Aiko finished, smiling.

"Ransei?" asked May.

"Never heard of it." stated Paul.

"It's a faraway region where they don't use Pokéballs, which arguably means that stronger bonds are formed. Ransei has a particularly flavourful history, as they had a feudal system, with warlords and the like." Cilan summarised.

"Not interesting." Misty growled.

"On the contrary, Misty, It is indeed very interesting... Please, continue, Cilan." Brock mused.

As Cilan proceeded to illustrate Ransei's history, nobody noticed Leaf's apparent turmoil, Gary's staring, and Ash hopelessly watching the other Pallet residents.

* * *

"So, now that we all know each other, can you finally tell us why we're here?" asked Drew.

"Oh right," Aiko smiled, "I almost forgot!"

"Good going..." muttered Paul. "Forgetting that you kidnapped all the people around you..."

"I'm sure you've never made that mistake," Dawn smirked. "Mew forbid _your_ abductees get forgotten..."

Paul shot her a withering glare.

"You two. Shut it. I want to know why I'm here, and when I can go." Leaf barked. Gary looked crestfallen. (_"And?"_)

"Right! Circle time everybody! I'm going to tell a story!"

"I'm beginning to think she seriously thinks we're idiots" muttered Gary, and then, receiving the glare Misty shot him, promptly shut up and moved into the circle.

"Are you sitting comfortably?" asked Aiko, taking altogether too much pleasure from irritating Gary. When everyone nodded (with the exception of Gary, who just groaned), she continued.

"Then I'll begin..."

* * *

"In this world, there are people who are special. It sounds clichéd, but it's true. These people have the ability to become Trainers, Breeders, Coordinators, Connoisseurs, Elites, Gym Leaders, Frontier Brains, Champions, Warlords, Masters, anything really... that wouldn't mean anything, 'cause everyone's got free will, but the special people can do anything _well_.

"These people are the ones who change the world. I'm not saying the non-specials can't do things. Equally, I'm not saying that every special _will_ do anything of value, or even _can. _They just find it a lot easier.

"The specials I'm currently referring to are known as _Characters_. You may have guessed it by now, but if you haven't, sorry, but I'm spoiling the surprise. Everybody in this room, excluding me, is a Character. One of the ways I know this is that you can tell that you're being narrated. Another way is that you're always the ones who end up in trouble, and also the ones who solve the problems. A prime example of this is Ash. Think about it. Has there ever been a time when any evil team has struck when he was not nearby... in fact, has there ever been a time when any evil team has struck and he didn't eventually thwart their plan and save the day? Keep that in mind cause I'm gonna quickly talk about the other types of specials...

"First off are _Narrators. That's_ what I am. We document the Characters' journeys in real time. Right now I'm narrating the people in this room. Usually we do it from afar, but this is kind of a special case... Anyway, we're assigned to certain characters by _Authors._

"Authors are... how shall I put it... well, weird. They can do pretty much anything, and I really mean it... it doesn't even have to be in the realm of possibility. Mix that with the fact that they don't even live in our world, and can see almost everything. They control everything and everyone. And most of them are completely bonkers. Like, batshit cray-cray. Some of them are hell-bent on ruining our lives. Others are convinced that some of us are meant to be together in 'ships'. They choose who needs to be Narrated, dictate what happens, and sometimes even create Characters of their own.

"The Author of this story is called Cattobus, or Cat. She's very new to being an Author and it shows, hence the randomness, inconsistencies, continuity errors and the like. She's quite vocal usually, it's surprising she hasn't said anything to you yet... but yeah, anyway, she has _plans, _which doesn't bode well for you lot... But yeah, Authors. Powerful, dangerous, sometimes well-meaning, and often insane... let's move on from them.

"As I said earlier, not all Characters make an impact. Some don't have the ability, others don't get the opportunity. Some of them are supposed to make a change, or defeat an enemy, but are pipped to the post by another Character. Inadvertently, the other Character is cutting short, or changing their journey in some way. Now think about Ash. Think about how long his adventure has been. Think about how many others might have had their journey cut off by it. People who were supposed to learn and grow through their journeys, by meeting, and eventually foiling, evil.

"In no way am I saying that Ash's journey is a bad thing. Neither am I saying he should stop his travels. I am merely pointing out how unfair it is on others that he was the one to fulfil _their_ destinies, and not them themselves. Which brings me to why you're here.

"Cattobus has been gathering those whose journeys have been cut short. She has also gathered those who cut the journeys short. She decided to give these people a chance to live out their adventures, through a Character of her creation. The people who have been gathered are either going to travel with the construct, or offer advice, both to her, and to me, who will be narrating her travels. Also, you'll have to give Cattobus help and ideas, or else it'll get weird... like seriously weird.

"So yeah, a great evil approaches, a new hero will arise... at least that's the plan. Get ready for a wild ride."

* * *

**A/N: So yeah. (I say 'So yeah' too much) What did you think? It's not brilliant, and not worth the wait, but oh well. Now would be the time for me to explain my absence, and I will do so as quickly as possible: Broke laptop, New laptop, Setting up, No Wi-Fi, Holiday=left behind, Writer's Block. Really though, these are all excuses, and I apologise for having to make them. **

**As I said earlier in the warning, the randomness in this will probably never fully leave, but it will lessen at some points, as I get further into the story, and if it bothers you, then this isn't the story for you.**

**One good thing is that I can finally start the main story next chapter, no more prologue. Because of the fact that I'm using characters who didn't really appear as much in the animé as they did in the games or manga, I can add others into the story, so if you particularly want a certain character, then ask, and I'll try to include them. **

**Other than that, I have nothing else to say, so please review, and tell me what you think!**


End file.
